Thorpe, also a professor of public health at Emory University, spoke about prevention of chronic diseases at the Michigan Health Policy Spring Forum, held Monday afternoon in the James B, Henry Center for Executive Development, 3535 Forest Road.

MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine Dean William Strampel said he has worked with the PFCD for more than a decade, and MSU has hosted the forum — a gathering of medical professionals, business leaders and state policymakers — for 26 years.

“It’s one of those things that we will all say is very important to us,” he said.

Thorpe said there are three approaches to preventative care that often go overlooked: building healthy habits, detecting diseases early and managing diseases to avoid complications.

He also stressed the importance of working within a community care network, bringing together medicine, business and commerce to strengthen the health systems.

The PFCD, a series of seminars focusing on health policy issues, is launching a new initiative in Michigan to unite those health field professionals and determine a way to strengthen health care at a lower cost.

Thorpe said the current health care system is very reactive, and people seem more willing to pay for medical maladies when they arise, but not to prevent diseases in the first place.

Shannon Inman, a student in the College of Nursing, said preventative care is “drilled into our heads” about how to educate patients on what the patient’s needs are — often before the patient is aware of their needs.

Inman said too often education is simple classes, such as physical education or sex education in primary school, that don’t focus on ways to prevent problems from arising.

If more people became educated about preventative care before potential chronic illnesses set in, there would be less need for hospital visits, she said.

“A lot of the time, people don’t really realize that fine line between what they need to go to the hospital for and what they don’t need to,” she said.